Curitiba is Signed as a Cultural Destination

Galleries, museums, fairs and new restaurants reinforce the city’s vocation for gastronomy and the arts

F ELIPE MORTARA * Known for hosting good urban planning solutions, the capital of Paraná has attracted tourists’ attention to its cultural scene. Galleries, museums, fairs and new restaurants reinforce the city’s vocation for gastronomy and the arts.

An example of this will be the opening, on October 18, of the Biennial International of Contemporary Art of Curitiba, the second largest of the type in the country. The event, which celebrates 25 years, will have as its main headquarters the Oscar Niemeyer Museum – known as the eye museum, by its format. But the shows should spread through galleries and get to the bus terminals.

In São Francisco street and in Largo do Paço you can see works by local artists like Rimon Guimarães, Maciel and Felas. An immense tulip painted by the Swiss artist Mona Caron colors a gable in the Square of the Cyclist’s Pocket. The region, together with the neighborhood of Batel, brings together art and gastronomy attractions, and is ideal for a walking tour.

One suggestion to start the script is the Soma gallery. Located at number 2.137 street Brigadeiro Franco, has exhibitions of new regional artists and established itself as a space of experimentation.

Leaving from there, the tourist can follow for nine minutes by the street Comendador Araújo until the mall President Taunay. There is the Lucca Café, the most awarded in the city and a great place to stop.

Right next door, SIM Galeria occupies a corner house with rooms filled with temporary exhibitions of contemporary national and foreign artists.

Parallel, Coronel Dulcídio street ends in the square of Spain, where there are shows and restaurants like Fabiano Marcolini Alimentari, which makes fresh pastas, and the Officina Restô Bar, known for the drinks.

At 600 meters from there, in Saldanha Marinho 1,220 street, there is the gallery Ponto de Fuga, a space curated by young people from Paraná. At night, in the back of the house works the Ginger bar, hidden by a curtain. The secret bar has a password to enter, which can be requested on Facebook and Instagram.

In Largo da Ordem, where a food and handicraft fair takes place on Sundays, Galeria Airez is dedicated to photographic, video and digital media artists. The space counts on shows of new names of all the country, besides chats.